Documents belie Bolante version

Jocjoc Bolante does not want senators to call him a liar. But how else will they describe someone who, under oath, utters statements contrary to plain evidence? What other term befits a man who evaded Senate hearings for two years, only to give illogical replies when finally arrested to testify?

Bolante swore that he only helped release the P728 million to Dept. of Agriculture regional directors in Feb.-Apr. 2004. From there he allegedly had no more say. Supposedly it was the RDs who then picked the fertilizer suppliers and the beneficiaries.

Yet in memos to the directors he specified which sellers to buy from — at 1,250-percent overprice. He also named the politicos allied with Gloria Arroyo or his front NGO to give the cash to. Auditors who investigated the stink documented all this.

Bolante claimed to not know who appointed him to the GSIS board right after pulling the fertilizer scam for Arroyo’s 2004 presidential run. He also feigned forgetting how much compensation he got.

Yet as trustee his first job should have been to read the GSIS charter. That document plainly states that the President selects the board members. Compensation is memorably P200,000 a month — one of the highest paying sinecures in government, which is why many pine for it.

Bolante also feigned not remembering that he had traveled abroad 14 times in 2004.

Yet when one senator mentioned a trip to Switzerland, he instantly recalled that it was for official government matter.

Bolante claimed to own only four bank accounts, two of which are dormant. He must have thought all senators are patsies he can easily fool, as he did in the first of three hearings. But it was so easy for them to secure copies of the Court of Appeals freeze of his deposits.

The Anti-Money Laundering Council had ordered all financial institutions to submit Bolante’s records. Thus were flushed out 23 accounts in five banks: 12 in Prudential, seven in BPI, two in RCBC, and one each in Union and Standard Chartered.

Confronted with the account numbers, Bolante mumbled excuses. Allegedly the authorities had included his inactive accounts since boyhood, and of the family foundation where he is treasurer. A half-truth is a whole lie. Fourteen accounts are inactive all right, but only because he closed them in early 2005 after diverting the P728 million to Arroyo’s campaign. Nine are in Prudential, four in BPI, and one in RCBC. From records, he still has nine active accounts, not only two as he swore. The nine — three in Prudential, three in BPI, and one each in Union, RCBC and Standard Chartered — were frozen by the AMLC last Oct. 21.

Interestingly, two of the frozen accounts in Prudential and one in BPI have exactly the same deposits of P76,107.48. One in Prudential and one on BPI also have similar $1,049.99.

In securing the freeze order, the AMLC proved to the court that Bolante had links to front NGOs that benefited from the fertilizer fund. Among these are Molugan Foundation, The Assembly of Gracious Samaritans Foundation, One Accord Christian Community Endeavor for Salvation and Success through Poverty Alleviation Inc., Society’s Multipurpose Foundation, Alliance for Conservation of the Environment of Pangasinan, and Sta. Lucia Educational Association of Bulacan.

An AMLC source said seven of the Bolante accounts could be linked to deposits of a high politico in Malaysia.

Like Bolante telling senators to not call him a liar, the Rotary Club International of which he was treasurer asks reporters to not link it to him. Siblings also decry news accounts that supposedly tainted the family name.

It’s the Rotary that must take steps to dissociate itself from Bolante; it knows how. Relatives can restore the family honor by convincing Bolante to tell the whole truth and nothing but.

*      *      *

Friends, family and fans of the late Raul Manglapus will mark his 90th birthday tomorrow with a whole afternoon of reflections. “Rekindling the Fire” will focus on the senator and foreign secretary’s visions as politician and statesman. Among the panelists are former VP Tito Guingona, Senators Dick Gordon and Nene Pimentel, former senator Jun Magsaysay, PCGG chief Camilo Sabio, former transport secretary Amado Lagdameo, former trade secretary Joe Concepcion, and former interior undersecretary Lito Lorenzana.

Organized by Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Centrist Policy Institute, and Ateneo School of government, discussions are open to all. Attendants are requested to reserve via [email protected] or infor@kas.ph. Or call (02) 8943737. Venue: Escaler Hall, Ateneo University, Loyola Heights, Quezon City.

*      *      *

E-mail: [email protected]